


Purple Popcorn

by einsKai



Series: T is for Trans!Tasuku [1]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Comedy, Getting Together, Humor, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Self-Acceptance, Trans Male Character, Wingman Takatoo Tasuku, also it half kinda turned into an omi character study??? how did that happen, it's set in year uh. three? four? omi graduated college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28664634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/einsKai/pseuds/einsKai
Summary: "Don’t ask Tasuku-san for love advice anymore.Or only do it when you want him to embarrass himself."
Relationships: Fushimi Omi/Nanao Taichi, Others mentioned
Series: T is for Trans!Tasuku [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100720
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Purple Popcorn

**Author's Note:**

> came up with this on a whim a few hours ago and the dialogue snippet i wrote made my friend laugh, so it's good, you guys and gals and nonbinary pals may laugh as well
> 
> entirely self indulgent trans!tasuku, trans!taichi, and gnc amab leaning nb he/they omi without an actual label because he doesn't need it.
> 
> there's a pronoun change for omi around the middle of the fic, but in this one omi's only using they/them for one paragraph. why? vibes.
> 
> anyway, have fun!
> 
> -kai

“Fushimi, do we have popcorn?”

“Popcorn? I probably have half a bag of corn left, so I could make some. Are you having a movie night, Guy-san?”

“Ah no. Tsukioka said something amusing was about to happen and Yukishiro asked for popcorn.”

Something amusing? Omi opened the cabinet where he knew he had left the corn. There was still some there. Perfect.

“I’ll bring it to your room when it’s done, okay?”, he said. He hesitated for a heartbeat.

“Actually, Guy-san”, he said then. “Could you make sure that Hisoka-san and Chikage-san don’t come into hearing distance of the kitchen until it’s done?”

Guy blinked. “Of course”, he said then. “I’m… also going to stay away then.”

Omi nodded. “It’ll be just a minute.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

He heated some coconut oil and sugar in the deep pan and poured in the corn. After it was nicely popped (with minimal burn victims) he filled a bowl with the popcorn and turned down the heat. When he stepped out into the courtyard, he caught a glimpse of Guy, Chikage, and Hisoka standing in front of room 206. The latter two seemed to be quarrelling in their own mysterious way, saying things that meant nothing to mask the things they didn’t say that meant much more. Guy was silently keeping watch.

Omi made his way up the stairs.

“He’s here now. Can I leave then?”, Chikage asked.

“You can”, Guy said. He exchanged a look with Omi. It had probably been rough telling those two not to do something without a completely sound reasoning. But Omi didn’t want to take any chances. He didn’t know exactly what had been going on in the past of these two, he wasn’t a part of their troupes after all, but he had an approximate idea. He didn’t want to walk on eggshells around them, but there was no need not to be careful either.

“Finally”, Hisoka mumbled. He took a step towards Omi and then jumped into the courtyard, taking a handful of popcorn with him. Omi was glad he hadn’t salted it, or Hisoka would have had a rude awakening when he stuffed his face with the popcorn while dozing off under a tree.

Chikage also excused himself and Omi handed Guy the bowl of popcorn.

“Enjoy”, he said.

“We will”, Azuma said. He had poked his head out of his room. Tsumugi’s head joined his.

“Oh there he comes”, he whispered.

Omi furrowed his brow. Who was coming?”

“Hey Fushimi.”

Oh. That was who was coming.

“Hello Tasuku-san. Did you have a request for dinner?”, he turned around.

Tasuku was leaning against the wall in a pose that he definitely hadn’t practised enough. Or was that part of his role? No, he didn’t look like he was acting right now.

“Uh. Yep.”

Definitely not acting. That was almost a flubbed line.

“Sure. Let me know what it is so I can get it on the grocery run.”

“Doubt you’d get that at the store”, Tasuku mumbled.

“Hm? Then what is it?”

“…”

Omi waited.

“Y-you…?”, Tasuku said then.

Behind them someone suppressed a snicker. Omi was pretty sure that it had been Tsumugi, and he definitely hadn’t thought that the Winter Troupe leader was able to make such a sound.

“Me? Is that a question?”, he asked.

A transformation went through Tasuku. He gained some volume in his shoulders, his chest puffed out with the confidence of a lady-killer, and his face was now adorned by a cocky grin that had a certain type of person (not the usual Tasuku-fan though, if Taichi was to be believed) swooning.

“Yeah. Interested?”

Omi eyed Tasuku from head to toe. Or well. “Tasuku”. Whatever the role was that he was playing right now, it definitely wasn’t the usual Tasuku.

“Not really?”, he said then. “Sorry…?”

“I can’t do this”, Tasuku mumbled. The volume and the grin disappeared, and in front of Omi was once again the normal Tasuku. “You said something about a grocery run? Let me come with you.”

The ‘to make this awkward situation up to you’ was left unsaid, but Omi saw it clearly.

“Sure”, Omi said. “Let me just get the list and the reusable shopping bags.”

“Kay”, Tasuku said. “I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

Omi turned around to the three other members of Tasuku’s troupe. The bowl of popcorn was significantly emptier than it had been before this conversation. _This_ had been the amusing thing that Tsumugi had prophesized? Well, there _was_ a certain comedy to failed flirt attempts, but this was just… odd. Overall odd.

But. Groceries time.

The walk to the grocery store was rather quiet, as expected. Tasuku had never been one for conversation.

“You know, Tasuku-san”, Omi said then, finally breaking the silence as they passed the butcher shop. “If I was in your place, I wouldn’t be making advances at anyone you’re not serious about. At least if you don’t want to conjure the wrath of Azuma-san.”

“Azuma-san? What does he have to do with this?”, Tasuku asked.

Omi laughed. “See? This is exactly my point.”

“Huh?”

But Omi decided to leave Tasuku to figure this out himself. They had arrived at the store that offered a sale on celery today. Mentally Omi apologised to Sakuya, though he would of course prepare an alternative dish, so the Spring Troupe leader wouldn’t have to eat the vegetable.

“This is a lot of vegetables”, Tasuku mentioned when they had finished shopping and were on their way back to the dorms now.

“Yes, I was planning on making vegetable broth and freezing some of it for later use”, Omi said. “It often even tastes better after reheating it!”

“I didn’t know that”, Tasuku mumbled. Then he perked up. “You know what else I don’t know?”

Omi had a lot of answers for that question, but he knew better than to say them out aloud when it wasn’t his place to do so. “What don’t you know, Tasuku-san?”

“Your type.”

“This again?”, Omi laughed sheepishly. “I already told you—”

“Well, I got it’s not _me_ ”, Tasuku said. “But you probably have one, right?”

Omi still wasn’t exactly sure where this was going, but he was sure that if he played along, he’d find out sooner or later. And… he had to give it to Tsumugi. It _was_ amusing to see Tasuku act like… whatever this was.

“My type…”, he thought about it. He wasn’t exactly sure how to answer the question. There were a lot of factors to consider after all.

“Is Taichi your type?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Never mind”, Tasuku said, too quickly.

So this was what it was all about. Omi got it now.

Tasuku had been doting on Taichi ever since he joined the Mankai company, in his own way. It wasn’t the same kind of doting that Omi did, but some things were better left to people who knew what they were doing. So when Tasuku drove Taichi to get shots or prep for surgery (the date was soon, wasn’t it? It was marked in Taichi’s wall calendar. He would have to ask what kind of food was okay for a celebration afterwards), or prepared hot water bottles for Taichi once a month, or leaned over Taichi’s shoulder to look at his options for certain items of clothing, Omi had suppressed any spark of jealousy he might have felt, and left it to the expert. Omi wasn’t exactly knowledgeable on masculinity after all.

They felt their grip on gender and masculinity slip from time to time, and they had always considered that slipping a part of themselves. Omi was Omi, no matter how they expressed themselves.

And Taichi was Taichi and Tasuku was Tasuku, and those two knew more about each other than Omi did, at least when it came to their topic. He didn’t have a place to butt into that.

So did Taichi ask Tasuku to find out about his preferences? Did he ask Tasuku to play wingman? Tsumugi must’ve overheard them talking and gone to tell Azuma. And that had also been the reason for the popcorn… Yes that made sense.

It was entirely unnecessary. Omi had just been waiting for Taichi to make the first move, to make sure that it was what he wanted, and to not hurt Taichi’s masculine pride. He probably wanted to make the first move, so Omi didn’t call him out on something that he might have mistaken for something more than a puppy crush or admiration.

“So”, Tasuku interrupted his flow. “Out of Mankai. Who’s most like your ideal type?”

Omi sighed. An image of a bright smile and blond hair flashed in his mind.

“Probably… Juza. Looks-wise. But if I’m honest, looks aren’t that important to me…”

“Juza huh… Got it.”

Oh no.

“Omi-kun?”, Taichi asked two days later.

“Yes Taichi?”, Omi looked up from his laptop. He was doing some edits to the photoshoot he had done at work the other day. The customer had asked for a cleaner background, and Omi was doing his best, but it took a long time.

“Would you help me dye my hair?”

“Sure”, he could use the break. Also he had helped Taichi re-dye before. It was kind of fun, working with the hair. He wondered if Azami wouldn’t be a better choice though.

“Nice! Thanks Omi-kun!”

Taichi sat down on Omi’s desk chair, and Omi got behind him.

He seemed kind of… tense.

Omi looked at the packaging of the hair dye.

Oh.

“Purple? Are you sure Taichi?”

Taichi tensed up, and then let go of all of his tension at once, putting his head on Omi’s desk.

“Taichi, are you—”

“I’m sorry Omi-kun!”, Taichi said suddenly. “Sorry for sending Tasuku-san as a spy to sniff out what you like! But you said you liked the way Juza-san looks so I thought I’d change myself to look more like him! But I can’t grow anymore and I’m not very good at glaring either, so the only thing that’s left is my hair and I was gonna ask him to teach me how to slick it back but he’s busy with that project for uni right now, so only the dye was left…! But after all I like my hair the way it is right now and I don’t know if I’d feel as comfortable with Juza-san’s hairstyle, but I want you to look at me more Omi-kun, because I just like you so much and Tasuku-san said—”

“Taichi”, Omi tossed the hair dye aside. He was glad it hadn’t been opened yet. Maybe Yuki could use it for a future costume or something. “Taichi, _breathe_.”

Taichi went rigid again.

Omi turned the chair around and crouched down in front of it. He caught Taichi’s eyes.

“It’s okay to want me to look at you more”, Omi said slowly. “After all, I want you to look at me too.”

“R-really…?”

“Really”, Omi nodded.

“I’m always looking though.”

“I know.”

“You _knew_?! Oh no, that’s so embarrassing.”

“I think it was cu—“, Omi stopped himself. “Cool of you. The way you just said how you felt. It was very honest.”

“Omi-kun…!”, Taichi let himself fall forward, and Omi caught him. He held him close.

“Tell me if something isn’t comfortable for you, okay?”, Omi said and squeezed Taichi’s shoulder lightly.

“Will do.”

“And, Taichi?”

“Mmh?”

“You don’t need to change yourself for me. The only reason you’d need to change yourself for, is _you_ , okay?”

Taichi nodded. “Okay.”

Later, when they were sitting on Taichi’s couch, a movie behind them, and their fingers laced together, Omi spoke up again.

“Also. Don’t ask Tasuku-san for love advice anymore. Or only do it when you want him to embarrass himself.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed me making fun of tasuku. i have no idea if this makes sense but i hope you had fun!
> 
> tasuku, seeing taichi struggle with his masculinity: ah. guess i'm a dad now.
> 
> if you want to talk to me you can do so on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/eins_kai)~
> 
> thank you for reading!
> 
> -kai


End file.
